Vehicle window operating systems have been used in vehicles for a long time, typically in vehicle doors. Conventional window systems include a guide for vertical movement of the window between a closed or raised position and an open or lowered position where the window is stored below a window opening between sheet metal panels that define the door. A regulating means, typically located on the inside panel of the door below the window opening, is used to regulate displacement of the window position between raised and lowered positions.
Conventional framed window systems require a channel for receiving the edges of the window glass about the opening, and since friction must be minimized to maintain easy displacement of the window, conventional compression seals cannot be used to assure sealing of the window about the opening in the closed position. Moreover, both framed and unframed known window units are not well adapted to stabilize the window which tends to "blow out" of position especially at higher vehicle speeds that create a vacuum on the outside surface of the window glass.
Furthermore, conventional framed and unframed vehicle window installations require an overlapping area of window panel which extends below the belt line at least for connection to conventional window operating linkages, and in the case of unframed windows, for support of the window by apparatus below the window opening. Such additional glass not only increases the weight and bulk of the window and its operating mechanism, but it also requires a higher belt line to fully receive the window in its retracted position.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,703,053 to DeRees et al for a Vehicle Window Installation discloses a vehicle window system including a guide member secured to a vehicle body, a follower movable along the guide and a regulating mechanism. A window glass is fixedly attached to the follower but the regulator has a control member which is attached to the bottom edge of the window at a position spaced apart from the guide to raise and lower the window, and introduces disorienting, off-axis moments with respect to the guide when the window is raised or lowered.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,028,157 to George C. Bately for Window Regulator discloses a vehicle window regulating system including a guide fixedly mounted in a vehicle body, a follower located in the guide and a window regulating device. The guide extends along the edge of the window panel such that it contacts both the inside and outside surfaces of the window glass.